


Team Seven of The Otsutsuki Clan

by ZiquilaLeo



Series: Team Seven of The Otsutsuki Clan [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst and Feels, BAMF Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto), BAMF Haruno Sakura, BAMF Uchiha Sasuke, BAMF Uzumaki Naruto, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Forgiveness, Founding of Konoha, Gen, Pre-Konoha Village, Pre-Naruto Canon Era, Queerplatonic Relationships, Revenge, Second Chances
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-03-02 14:07:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18812473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZiquilaLeo/pseuds/ZiquilaLeo
Summary: Misplaced in time, Team Seven makes the most of it in the Warring Clans Era.A/N: This is an old work of mine. Thought I'd share it.





	Team Seven of The Otsutsuki Clan

In another world, Naruto and Sasuke would have succeeded in resealing the Rabbit Goddess, finish their long-awaited showdown of Wills and Dreams, and bring peace to the Shinobi World and between humans and Bijuu. 

In another world, that is. 

Not in this one. 

It takes _longer_ for them to seal The Mother of Chakra, and this of course changes a lot. 

Team Seven is forced to fight together, whether one of them ( _ehum—Sasuke—ehum_ ) likes it or not, for one; and it’s through the mutual goal of wanting Kaguya gone, continuous cooperation, and the unspoken promise that they’re not going to die or be the one to die alone between them that causes their unavoidable bond to be (re)formed under Obito and Kakashi’s rekindled partnership and watchful gazes (they’d rather die than have the kids die before them), while the rest of the world remains under a chakra-draining Infinite Tsukiyomi. 

_Years_ —it takes years, and yet they still somehow fail, but at the same time don’t, still somehow win, but at the same time don’t. In the end, their battle remains inconclusive.

Why?

A battle between dimensional and space-time-manipulators and chakra monsters is bound to lead to fucking with time, intentionally or not. 

So it shouldn’t come as much surprise to Konoha’s former Team Seven when Kaguya’s dimensional tear backed by the power of the Juubi, Sasuke’s dimensional rift added with the Ying power of the Sage of the Six Paths, Obito’s concoction of Uchiha and Senju’s chakra and Kakashi’s special White Chakra and their dimensional portal, and Sakura’s stock-piled chakra, and Naruto’s almost infinite chakra supply added with the Yang power of the Sage of the Six Paths all simultaneously colliding together causing everything around the next generation of Sannin to rip, wrap, and twist reality. 

It really shouldn’t.

*******

Everywhere in the Fire Country, on one sunny cloudless day in the afternoon, the earth shook, red coloring the sky, and stretching far for miles. 

Many witnesses of the unnatural occurrence would later speak of how the forest and animal life had gone silent all of a sudden, followed by a long pause of uncomfortable tension sending the hackles up of even the most harden of men to instinctively grab their weapons. 

Then—what could only be described as the end of the world—a loud bang resonated from the heart of the country, the sky bleeding the color red and spreading as far as it was allowed to reach to the horror of all who saw, and directly within range of it.

Less than a minute, but what felt like years, a heavy blanket of chakra swirled in the air through an invisible connection and rooted itself deep into the world, the effect of it had the plants blooming to life, animals running to one direction, and miracles happening seemingly unnoticed until after the shock of it all wore off. 

Just as quick as it happened, it ended. 

Nobody aside for those the cause of it would ever know why such a thing happened that day. 

*******

Naruto knows they’re in deep shit when he wakes up and from across him he sees two familiar unconscious figures—both of whom are tiny, and definitely not how he last saw them. And he knows who they are because Sakura is the only one with that kind of pink hair he’s ever met (much pinker than her father’s), and he’s only ever seen that unique duck-butt hair style on Sasuke. So yes, he knows it’s them, even if they’re far younger than he remembered. 

He doesn’t sense Obito or Kaka-sensei, and that rings even more warning bells in his head. 

What seals the deal is that he doesn’t sense any other living thing (except the growing number of animals) but the three of them. 

_Where the hell is Kaguya?_ He knows even if she was in Kiri, he’d still be able to sense her in Suna. Her chakra was comparable to the sun, even Sakura who wasn’t born to be a chakra sensor felt the frightening tingles of it from that far (but she couldn’t sense it, just felt it—if that even makes sense). _Is she in another dimension?_

He recalls being in a dimension full of crystals, not their own.

Deciding that whatever hell _did_ happen, they’ll figure it out later. Right now, they’re all sitting ducks if they remain like this out in the open. 

So Naruto doesn’t waste time waking up his friends. He shakes them, shakes them harder when he sees tiny little hands attached to his scrawny arms. He hadn’t thought he was turned into a child too, but he could panic about that later. 

“ _Wake up_ ,” he hisses in a low voice that’s too high-pitched for his liking. 

Sasuke is the first to rise. The Teme takes one look at him, and stares. “What. The. Fuck.”

“Later,” Naruto sends him a look that leaves no room for stalling, “We need to wake up Sakura and make a retreat.”

Thankfully, the raven helps him wake their female teammate and they immediately bolt. 

Naruto is unsure how long they run, their bodies now in the form of a child still able to maintain the abilities they had as adults, but everything looks so big to them in the forests, and the height difference is messing with their mental normality of sizes of when they were taller. 

That problem would have occupied his mind like his teammates during their time running, except he feels faint chakra signatures—ones different from those he’s felt under the Infinite Tsukuyomi and turning into White Zetsus for years—scattered within his normal sensory range when he’s not in Bijuu or Sage Mode as they move. 

For four days they run, running in circles to avoid the chakra signatures because Naruto is painfully reminded of the reanimated enemies that were once allies or loved ones used at the beginning of the Fourth Shinobi War—majority of them filled with contempt and thirst for revenge but also a mix of hope and relief mashed up together. 

It’s not until the fifth night they agree to stop to rest in a small clearing somewhere in the Fire Country (it’s the only Country full of these kinds of limitless trees from what they remember). 

“Where’s Kaka-sensei and Obito?” Sakura pounces on him the moment they take a breath of relief. 

Sasuke is staring at him intently as well. 

“I don’t know,” he answers truthfully. “Kurama is knocked out, feels like chakra exhaustion. The other Bijuus are silent. So I couldn’t enter Bijuu mode. I can’t sense them, but I can sense others.”

“What about Sage Mode? You can use that to search for them, Dobe,” Sasuke insists, a scowl marring his childish face. 

“Well I was too distracted by the other unfamiliar chakra signatures and thought of only running away, ya know!” Naruto growls defensively. But he does close his eyes, shoving his irritation aside so it’ll be easier to absorb nature chakra, especially now that he’s still. 

And it’s different too. The nature chakra is densely coated in chakras of what could only be from people. Which again: _What the hell?!_

The only people able to give back to nature were them, Obito and Kaka-sensei a few days ago. So there’s no reason for the nature chakra to be this dense. Nature Chakra had been scarce, the damn Chakra Tree absorbing all of it. 

Then, he’s in Sage Mode and further more confused. 

His breath hitches. The feeling of not just hundreds, but about a hundred-thousand of chakra signatures burning as bright as day in his sensory range sends waves of hope, grief, and confusion through him. 

He doesn’t need to be in Bijuu Mode to feel the emotions from those people since his sensory skill is good enough in this mode to tell him those chakra signatures are _alive_ , unrestrained and free of the Chakra Tree to move as they will. In fact, there’s no sign of the Chakra Tree, nor Kaguya, Black Zetsu, Kaka-sensei, and Obito, or any of his precious people and others from the Allied Shinobi Alliance.

Instead he senses others, people he isn’t familiar with, and the Bijuus who are separate and resting in their place of choice.

But there are chakra signatures he recognizes.

Naruto’s eyes open, his emotions raging inside of him reflecting in his eyes and making his companions tense. 

“What it is?” Sakura asks in a small voice, a far cry from her determined unyielding one as an adult. 

“I—they’re _different_. There are people alive, they’re not reanimated. I don’t know them by their chakra signatures. I don’t sense anything I know. No Kaguya, Black Zetsu, Kaka-sensei, or Obito! Hell, I don’t even know where the Chakra Tree is at!” He takes a shuddering breath, tears springing to his eyes. “I feel all nine Bijuu, but not as the Juubi. Something is wrong, because the Ying-half of Kurama is still in me and I feel a whole Kurama somewhere out there! I sense two huge chakra signatures from a very much alive Shodaime Hokage and Madara, ya know!”

“Naruto. Naruto! Calm down,” Sasuke squeezes his shoulder in a painful grip, but it does its job of stopping the blonde from having a mental breakdown. “We’re going to figure this out. Sakura and I are here with you.”

Sakura takes one of the blonde’s hands into hers, Sasuke the other. “We’re together.”

Naruto relaxes at their touch and the familiarity of their chakra. 

Sakura reminds him of her primary chakra element: earth, more specifically a volcanic mountain. Unmovable in its foundation, and piling snow on its peak like she does with her chakra stored in the seal on her forehead. Her will is definitely that of fire that burns with a passion, but protected inside the security the volcanic mountain offers.

Sasuke reminds him of his primary and secondary chakra element: lightning and fire. He’s fast as light and willing to burn the world to the ground if necessary (Naruto had years to irritate that out of him, but he knows the bastard would still do it if he and Sakura, Kaka-sensei and Obito all died). He’s quick in almost anything he knows and does, and just as deadly. His will is no doubt fire, but one as black as the Shinigami’s soul—pure, but also destructive, creating shadows in its wake and leaving him balancing on an invisible thin line between the light and darkness. 

“Thanks guys,” he says. He lets Sage Mode end, his body slumping from the emotional strain inside him. Ignoring the hundreds of whys and hows, he squeezes their hand back.

They don’t let go of each other, even when they all fall asleep. 

Naruto is tired, so are they. He’s the best sensor in his generation, so he’ll know if anyone gets too close for comfort. 

Tomorrow will still be there when they wake up. 

*******

A couple days past (Naruto isn’t counting anymore) as they panic over what the bloody hell is going on and where Kaka-sensei and Obito (and Kaguya and Black Zetsu) are before they get any answers. 

_**Kit. Kit wake up.** _

Naruto shrugs off the annoying voice. He recognizes it and the chakra of its owner, both of which bring him a peace that engulfs his entire being. He feels more content in his sleep than he’s been in a while. 

_**Don’t ignore me you brat! Wake up! Naruto!** _

The roar that follows explodes in his mind, jolting him awake in his mindscape and coming face-to-face with a thin looking Kurama. 

It takes a moment for Naruto to get his bearings, the last few days slowly coming to him. His eyes widen in surprise, and he grins in relief. _Kurama! You’re fine! Awake!_ He lunges towards the Bijuu, clinging onto fur as much as he can with his small figure. He feels the tears returning. _You’re okay_ , he chokes out. 

Kurama must be too drained since he hasn’t shoved the blonde off him. _**You idiots need to be more careful when you fight. You nearly tore reality apart. It’s a damn good thing you only tore through time.**_

 _What?_ Naruto stops sniffling, and uses the inside of his shirt to wipe his snot and tears away. _What do you mean?_

Kurama eyes flicker down to him. Naruto doesn’t even flinch at the glare sent his way. The Bijuu huffs in response. 

They’ve gotten even closer while working together for years (Honestly? Naruto lost count of how long they were battling Kaguya and Black Zetsu. It’s kind of hard to remember when they kept jumping through different dimensions and rarely back to their own.), already used to each other’s attitudes and quirks; plus, Kurama’s chakra briefly merged with his Yang-self and maintains all the memories he has of Naruto as his Jinchuriki since the night he was born, even the emotions that accompanied it.

 _ **You tore through time brat. Literally.**_ At the dumbfolded expression the blonde sends him, Kurama rolls his eyes (Naruto takes joy that he’s the reason the Ying-Furball began doing that). _**Let me dumb it down for you. You guys traveled through time—went back in time to be exact. How far back? Far enough that all the Bijuu aren’t sealed in a Jinchuriki. The cause of this is most likely through that last combined attack we did against Kaguya’s own. Unfortunately, you idiots were closer to the attack and got sucked right into it.**_

 _I sensed Madara and the Shodaime Hokage._ Naruto mumbles in shock, can never forget their malevolent chakra signatures similar to his and Sasuke's. He hadn’t thought of that. In fact, time traveling should be impossible. Sure his dad was able to travel through space, but time? Then he thinks of dimensional traveling and his hesitation shatters. He quickly accepts the Fox’s conclusion. He’s seen a lot of impossible shit first-hand, adding time travel to the mix wouldn’t be all that surprising. 

_**Warring Clans Era.**_ Kurama says with an exasperated sigh. _**We’re yanked out of one war only to be thrown into another. I doubt any peace treaties or Hidden Villages had been made with all the negative emotions I sense. Just our luck. We’re back in a time before your precious Konoha was built.**_

Naruto’s brain short-circuits. _What?! What are we going to do?!_

 _ **I’m not going to do anything. I’m going to be here storing up chakra since I had to use almost all of mine and the other Bijuus own to keep you and those two from being ripped to shreds, or winked out of existence.**_ Kurama finally shakes his head, attempting to jostle the blonde off his cheek. 

Naruto gets the memo and gives the Furball once last hug before stepping away. _Thanks Kurama._ He lets his gratitude flow through his chakra and cloaks the Fox in it, lending the Bijuu some chakra it can feed off of.

Kurama sends him an annoyed look, but closes his eyes, willingly accepting the offered chakra without complaint. 

Naruto blinks to the physical plane and stares up at the cloudless blue sky. It’s still surreal to him. The life force thriving in the forest reverberates around him, engulfing him in a warmth that reminds him of Konoha—of home before Kaguya, before the Akatsuki. 

Sakura’s face replaces the sky. “You’re finally awake,” she says while looking down at him. “Sasuke went to get something for breakfast.” 

As if on cue, the bushes rustle and they both turn to it. Sasuke steps out from it holding three large squirrels, “Raw or cooked?”

Naruto’s stomach grumbles on cue. “Raw.”

Sakura and Sasuke shrug, they wait until Naruto joins them so they could all clean their meal and eat it. The two cook their own squirrels while Naruto scarfs his own down. He’s tempted to go back to the forest and get a few more squirrels to completely nullify his hunger, but. He waits until the two are done eating to explain what Kurama told him. 

Their reactions surprisingly were much more dramatic than his.

“What about Kaka-sensei and Obito?! They’re both back there with Kaguya and Black Zetsu! Almost everyone in the Infinite Tsukiyomi is dead! They’ll commit suicide by trying to bring those two bastards down with them! We have to go back!” Sakura shouts as she paces, arms flailing in her panicked worry.

Sasuke shakes his head, a grim look appearing on his face. “It’s impossible. They were half the reason we came back here. There’s no way back. And even if we did find a way, we wouldn’t survive. Look, we’re _six_. Our bodies barely made it through. We’d be wiped out of existence.”

Naruto would have laughed at how adorable and childish their frustrated expressions were if he wasn’t doing the same and were they in better circumstances. 

“No way,” Sakura falls to her knees, tears appearing in her eyes. It’s been a while since he’s seen her cry. He forgot how long ago she had a nightmare or panic attack. “What are we going to do?”

They’d been close to Kaka-sensei, and eventually Obito grew on them. Plus, as humanity’s last survivors from the world’s end by an aloe vera and mad Goddess, it wasn’t hard to cling to one another. 

“I don’t know what happens to our time, but I’d like to think it’s gone; turned back the clock because of our interference in the past by just existing here. It’ll be easier to focus on hunting down Black Zetsu in this time and torturing the bastard for all it’s done. Will do.” Sasuke stares at them with those eyes that promise destruction (his glare is adorable—but Naruto isn’t going to say that or else the fire in those eyes will set him ablaze) and vengeance. 

Normally Naruto would punch the Teme for such an awful thought, but this time he’ll allow it. Only because Sakura has that same look in her eyes, and he can feel Kurama’s growing chakra flickering in agreement. Plus, he’s pretty sure he has the same look in his eyes. 

_Thinking of Kaka-sensei and even Obito will only hurt us._ Is shared among them in the silence. 

An unspoken agreement settling between them that they’ve made peace with being misplaced in time, and if they haven’t yet, then they _will._

Naruto straightens suddenly, eyes snapping towards one direction and narrowing. Faint chakra signatures tingle against the edge of his sensory range heading straight for their direction. One chakra signature feels vaguely familiar. “People are heading this way. We should leave.”

The other two don’t argue and the three of them immediately take off to a random direction. 

“Where will we go?” Sakura asks, jumping from one branch to another. 

Sasuke glances at the blonde from the corner of his eyes. “I checked my rinnegan. I’m having trouble opening portals and sensing through them, but all my other abilities for it work though. I also have the Ying chakra seal of the Sage of the Six Paths.”

“My seal is fully stocked, and my control hasn’t waned in the least.” Sakura offers absentmindedly.

Naruto looks down at his hand with the Yang chakra seal and sighs in relief, “Same here.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Sasuke deadpans before looking straight. “But, I guess it’s good we aren’t all powerless.”

“If I remember correctly, there are very few neutral towns in the Fire Country. A lot of them were said to be protected by Clans.” Sakura says aloud. “The Academy didn’t go into detail of what happened during the Warring Clan Era and the way it worked.”

“We’re going in blind, nothing new. We’re ninja,” Sasuke points out. 

Naruto listens to the two argue as his mind drifts to his days back in the Academy. He thinks of his precious people—his friends and Iruka-sensei that he failed to save from Kaguya’s clutches. 

They’re in the past. Now that he thinks about it, what if they change too much while being in the past? They change too much to the point that their friends and family may never be born? The thought scares him, and yet…he thinks of Asura and Indra—the Cycle of Reincarnation—and _hopes_ because he’s not about to let something like his time happen again and plans on saving lives here in the past to prevent it. 

“Right Naruto?”

Naruto eyes snap to his right, both Sakura and Sasuke are staring at him expectantly as they continue jumping tree from tree. He smiles sheepishly, “I’m sorry what? I wasn’t listening.”

The two just stare at him, not judgmentally, but in a knowing and understanding way, if slightly irritated. 

They’re practically siblings. Naruto’s grown out of his puppy love for Sakura, and she’s outgrown her love for Sasuke. Sasuke loves both of them and they love him just as much back. They usually don’t need words to convey what they need to say. 

The time they were running away from Kaguya and Black Zetsu for some needed rest instead of taking them head-on, they used their chakra to communicate to keep up with their chakra control. 

Naruto is proud that the two have succeeded in being able to sense the emotions embedded in chakra. The only downside is there’s no more privacy between them when it comes to how each other feel (that’s actually an upside to them, however). He’d invented a variation of the Sage of Six Paths own Ninshu, or so the Bijuu inside him says, and taught his teammates. 

It took the end of the world to bring them together again, and come to understand each other completely. Better late than never right?

They don’t ever want to feel loss like that again.

Naruto doesn’t want to feel the gaping hole inside him Kaka-sensei and Obito left behind. (He ignores the way his mind says it’s the other way around, of who left who. Or that the hole in him was there long before he had any precious people beside Jiji and Teuchi-ossan.) 

He knows Sasuke and Sakura would fight tooth and nail to keep him alive, just like he’d do for them. The only reason they never died altogether was because they didn’t want to give Black Zetsu the satisfaction of winning, and they wanted revenge against those two bastards. Also, because Naruto wanted to save the other Bijuu, he couldn’t save the rest of the people in his world (it took a long time for all of them to come to terms with that fact, eventually they did), but the Bijuus were sentiment creatures of their world as well. 

Naruto can forgive, other times he cannot, but he learned to cope with his hatred, accepted it, but never indulged in it. 

Kaguya and Black Zetsu are the only exceptions of him breaking that iron clad law in him. 

“I said we should bullshit our way through. We’re advanced than other shinobi here in the past, especially since we’re six. So we need a backstory,” Sakura tilts her head in a curious manner. “Sasuke thinks we should say we were taught by Kaka-sensei, in a small Hidden Village that closed itself off and hid away from the war. It took in lost and Clanless children before it was destroyed by intruders, everybody killed and we were the only survivors since we were out with our Sensei that died in the crossfire to escape on our way home. It’s mostly the truth. If we’re going to lie, than might as well tell the truth since it’s easier for us to remember.” Towards the end of her explanation, he hears the faint tremble in her voice, feels her chakra saddened with grief and loss. 

She's right though. Konoha did close itself off from the war. It did take in clanless children from the wars (during all the wars before the Fourth). Kaka-sensei was their sensei, and he most likely died in the crossfire of their last attack if he hadn’t gotten sucked in like they had.

“Okay,” he commits the story to memory. Sakura had pounded him enough times in the past while they were on the run to remember their detailed battle plans against Kaguya to seal her (they all failed, unfortunately—in sealing her, not him failing at remembering the plans). 

They even once went through the ruins of Uzushiogakure to find any helpful seals for them to use. They found a lot deep underneath the rubble, all of which could only be accessed and unsealed by Uzumaki blood and chakra. They got a lot of water jutsus out of it, wind as well, but they also had ways for an Uzumaki to access the special chakra chains only found in their clan and passed on through certain lines. In the end, only Naruto benefited out of it. 

Learning Fuuinjutsu distracted him from his frustration and grief for a long time. It helped lengthen his patience and he quotes in Kaka-sensei’s own words _‘Fuuinjutsu opened your mind to be more creative, and also improved your memory. Konoha wouldn’t be standing had you learned this before you were a genin.’_

“Luckily we’re using Anbu clothes,” Sasuke pulls their minds back from memory lane. “Naruto and his chains, and the way I look Uchiha and have the Sharigan would only cause problems if we were wearing our clan symbol.” 

They’ve all got extra Anbu clothes in the seal Naruto drawn onto their arms and wrists, though they’ll have to sow them down to their size later. They've also got more supplies since they practically ransacked all the shinobi villages and towns in the countries back in their time. 

Secret and Forbidden Jutsus, infinite supply of weapons, chakra pills and medical supplies, and a few items from home are all sealed in scrolls sealed inside the seals on their body. 

“Naruto, are they still following us?” Sakura asks. 

Naruto blinks at the question. He feels nothing. “We’re fine,” he stops running. His sixth sense reaches out to see if there are any more people coming towards them. 

Sasuke and Sakura nod, jumping down to the ground. He follows them.

“What about our last names?” Naruto asks suddenly. “We can’t use them?”

“No,” Sasuke confirms, “We cannot. We’re clanless in a time where if you’re not officially acknowledged by a Clan, than you’re clanless. Our first names we can keep, but are last names have to go.”

Naruto squashes down the rising furry in him at the statement. He understands the logic there, but Uzumaki is his mother’s name. It’s a part of him as much as Naruto is. But, going by the bitter grimace on Sasuke’s face, he’s not the only one (despite the certain people who share the same name as him). Sakura doesn’t look any better, looking like a kicked puppy herself.

“We could share a Clan name, ya know,” Naruto finds himself saying. 

Now Sasuke is no longer an Uchiha, Naruto is no longer an Uzumaki, and Sakura followed them both to and through hell, and she is no longer a Haruno. They’ve all come a long way and still their journey is far from over. He considers them family, so why not share a name aside from 'Team Seven' between them? If it’ll help ease the pain and emptiness of sacrificing even more of themselves for a better future, then he’ll do it. 

“What name?” Sakura’s eyes are a little brighter than they were a second ago. 

Sasuke puts on a thoughtful frown.

 _ **Otsutsuki.**_ Kurama’s states in his mind. 

Naruto blanches. “No way!” He ignores the startled and curious looks the other two send him. “Why would we take that name of all things?!”

_**It’s a Clan you're all descendants of. Plus, it’d be a great way to say ‘fuck-you’ to Black Zetsu, and because of him, not many people remember Jiji’s last name.** _

“That’ll just put us on his radar,” Naruto growls out. “It won’t be much of a ‘fuck-you’ to aloe vera, but it’ll fuck us over, ya know!”

Kurama clicks his tongue and doesn’t say anything else. 

“What did Kurama say?” Sasuke asks. 

“He said we should call ourselves _Otsutsuki_ of all things. Yeah, right,” Naruto grumbles out. It sucks that the Fox is right, that they’re all descendants of the White Bitch that tried to kill them and drained their world to its death. 

Naruto makes a sour expression, his face clearly saying that ‘no’ he’s not using that name.

Sakura on the other hand smiles. “We should.”

Naruto and Sasuke send her incredulous looks. 

“Kurama’s right. Whether we like it or not, we’re also her descendants. We hate her. Sure, but so what? Being under Black Zetsu’s radar will save us the trouble of scavenging all the lands to find him. He’ll come to us. Naruto is able to sense him. We couldn’t do much before because he stuck to Kaguya like a leech, but now we have a chance. We even have the Ying and Yang Chakra of the Sage of Six Paths as backup,” Sakura reasons. “Black Zetsu and Kaguya almost took everything from us except each other. Why can’t we do the same to them?” 

“But, _Otsutsuki_?” Naruto whines. 

“Would you prefer Kaguya?” Sakura raises an eyebrow. 

Naruto scowls at her. “Hell no. And I think that’s already taken.”

“Fine,” Sasuke looks like someone just ate all his tomatoes. “Otsutsuki it is.”

“Tch.” Naruto crosses his arms unhappily, pouting. “Why couldn’t we land in a time Konoha was built? It’d be so much easier. Otsutsuki Naruto sounds weird.”

“Otsutsuki Sasuke,” Sasuke grits out. 

“We’ll need to work on introductions more,” Sakura sighs at the two of them. Then, she smiles softly, “Otsutsuki Sakura. We’re the Otsutsuki siblings, orphans raised together.” 

Sakura hadn’t known the pain of being an orphaned in her childhood, so it’d hit her hard when she became one. She’d plowed on through the pain only because there were some heartbreaks that had to be ignored in order to not hold back the group, and because she knows Sasuke and him had it worse growing up and experiencing it too young.

The way she calls them the ‘Otsutsuki siblings’ lessens his disdained for the name. He knows it’s the Sage of Six Paths Jiji’s last name, and that it’s disrespectful of them to hate it because of Kaguya, therefore, hating his own. 

But, it’s their name now (always was a part of them anyways). 

“Yeah,” Naruto agrees softly, watching the way she brightens at his agreement. “The new and improved Team Seven as the Otsutsuki siblings? I guess it sounds nice.”

Whatever makes them happy Naruto would bare the weight it comes with, because what little happiness they’ve had was the assurance that they’re not alone in a dying world or inhabitable ones. 

Positive thoughts only do so much, but it could also do wonders. 

“Hn,” Sasuke grunts. “We’ll lie about being the descendants of the Sage of Sixth Paths and his brothers’ descendants who wanted to live on earth but wanted to avoid the fight brewing in the lands and hid from the world.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Sakura nods. 

“Shit,” Naruto frowns, eyes flickering behind him as he tilts his head back. “The same chakra signature is heading towards our direction. One person. And fast.”

“Has to be intentional,” Sakura states the obvious. 

“Sensor most likely,” Sasuke adds, and the blonde and Sakura groan. 

_Sensor?_ Naruto snorts indigently earning eye rolls from his siblings and Bijuu. 

“Should we wait and see who it is? They’re obviously fast if they’re already this close to us by look on your face,” Sakura glances between the two boys. 

It’s not like its Madara or the Shodaime Hokage, so it shouldn’t matter. 

They all share a look and shrug before settling down on the ground. 

Sasuke leans against a tree, sharpening two of his kunai while Sakura decides to collect some edible berries for them to snack on. Naruto doesn’t know why the Teme is trying to go for an intimidating first impression in his six year old body. He looks more like a grumpy kid than anything else.

“I’d like the black ones too!” Naruto shouts towards Sakura. “Lots of it, they actually taste good!” One thing about having the strongest Bijuu sealed inside of him, even if it’s only half, he’s immune to most poisons. 

By the time she finishes collecting enough to sate them until they hunt again for another larger snack she gives each boy their share and sits in between them to eat hers. 

Naruto takes his time eating his berries while lying on his back to watch the forming clouds. He enjoys the way he can enjoy just staring at the sky for the moment, not running too fast that it’s just a blur of white and blue. 

Whoever is heading towards them is fast, and has covered a huge distance between them in less than ten minutes. _Already more than halfway to us._ Naruto has to respect whoever it is for their skill in speed.

He regrets that thought five minutes later when a familiar albino man steps into their clearing. 

*******

Senju Tobirama is a once-in-a century genius in his clan (his older brother is a special case), doesn’t have any penchant for taking bullshit, and known for hating the Uchihas with a passion.

What people are calling Doomsday (the sky bled, and roared—literally), because of it, security around their Clan Camp and settlements under their protection were strengthened. Superstitious elders theorized Doomsday was caused by powerful people, a possible enemy clan looking for ways to wipe them out while they come out alive. 

Tobirama would have called them senile hadn’t he been a good sensor as he was. He not only saw, or heard the call of Doomsday, but also felt it. The rush feeling of desperation, destruction, and vengeance he’d felt echo from the frightening roar nearly overwhelmed him enough to almost fall to his knees. 

His sister-in-law, Mito, had fallen to hers. And it was the first time he’d seen her that low before because she’s as much a force as he is, and she was born an Uzumaki, born with a sixth sense that rivals even his because of her clan’s special chakra. 

His older brother had a few seconds of preparation to brace himself for an oncoming wave of _something_ the trees warned him about.

Of course, just when the world felt like it was ending by such negative emotions as the sky bled, the wind howled—gales whipping through the air and brushing against every living thing. Unlike the first wave of awful emotions, the second one had been the opposite, life sprung, twisted, and thrived.

He’d thought his brother used his Kekkei Genkai, but when he glanced at Hashirama, the Clan Head had his mouth agape, eyes wide and staring to the direction the red in the sky originated from.

The positive feelings—of determination, desire, and hope—washed over him in waves, rejuvenating him and anybody affected by the first rush.

Before that day he didn’t know how to feel emotions in chakra, not like Mito and those of her clan with the special chakra, but he had felt it. It was surreal. 

Then, to add more to their shock, after the occurrence passed, things happened. 

For one, ninja injured from their last battle against their mortal enemy were healed; even the ones who were on their death bed were up and walking again. 

Whatever the fuck that that shit was had unintentionally (or intentionally) cured his clan back to health. He would have celebrated along with them had the occurrence only happened to their clan, unfortunately, it happened to every clan. 

In the end he wasn’t sure what they were celebrating (Doomsday’s pass, their injured cured, or because the world was ending). 

Now, he may be the best sensor in his generation, but it’s only toward chakra. He can’t sense emotions like his sister-in-law. He’s also the best chakra sensor in his family. So imagine his surprise when he feels a faint chakra signature moving away from the center of where the beginning of Doomsday felt like it derived from hours later. His brother hadn’t wanted to have any members investigate since he was sure other clans have already begun moving towards the source. 

But, if the possible people responsible for the occurrence came running towards them in a zig-zag line? Well, now. Tobirama sees no problem with meeting the person halfway. 

Hashirama didn’t want him to go alone so he was forced to bring his cousins Touka and Miruko, and that they must stay for the beginning of the celebration before setting out. 

His group had been forced to search for that faint chakra signature once they were given permission to leave. He memorized the small light that shone in the darkness like a beacon, so he found them within a good amount of days. It took a while to catch up since they started moving again, but he’d left Miruko and Touka behind to catch up with the person and intercept them and figure out what the hell happened. 

Except as he got closer to the small flame, it kept growing brighter; and to his surprise, this person’s chakra signature he’d been chasing after was overshadowing two others. 

He would have stopped, regrouped, and then face the three individuals since it’s one of the most strategic move he’ s followed through ever since he was a kid, but he had the element of surprise. His chakra was suppressed enough that most of the sensors’ in his clan couldn’t pinpoint his location or didn’t know if he was there or not. 

Tobirama appeared behind the chakra signature he felt first, and abruptly paused. 

Three set of eyes settled on him immediately, the owners of them looking no older than eight, probably younger. The blonde boy, the one he’d sensed first, paled at the sight of his towering figure above him since the kid was lying down on his back. The pink-haired girl froze in eating some wild berries. ( _Pink? Who the hell has pink hair?_ ) The boy who resembled his archenemy is giving him a blank a look. 

There was no way these brats were the cause of Doomsday. More importantly, his tries to ponder why there is an Uchiha sharpening kunais with two other kids traveling alone? 

He looks like Izuna’s offspring, or if that bastard ever had a child, then this kid could be it. 

Tobirama is stumped.

For a long time nobody moves. 

And then, the blonde grabs a handful of poisoned berries on a leaf beside him and holds it up to him with a bright grin. “Want some?”

Before he could decline and consider whether the gesture was sincere or a threat, the pinkette stomps over and smacks the blonde on the head, “You idiot!” 

“Ow! What was that for Sakura?!”

Sakura—Tobirama thinks the name compliments her hair—sends the blonde an insufferable look. At least if that pout and rolled eyes were meant for it. “Those are _poison_. He can’t eat them! You trying to kill the first person we met since—“she stops abruptly. 

An underline of gloom hangs in the air as all three children look down or to the side with heartbroken expressions. 

“You’re not allowed to share your food with anyone unless we say so, Dobe,” the Uchiha—he can’t be anything but an Uchiha—mutters. 

“Sorry, but.” The blonde mumbles. His eyes then flicker up to Tobirama who watched the entire exchanged with a blank expression. “Why are you here?”

He studies the blonde, something tingling in the back of his mind about the boy. “I felt your chakra signature leaving the center of where the wave of chakra and emotions came from.” 

All three look at him in confusion. “What?”

He can tell by their steady chakra that they have no idea what he’s talking about. _Perhaps they were just closer to it and I assumed too quickly._ He mentally frowns. It’s been a while since he’s been wrong. 

Tobirama shakes his head, “Never mind. More importantly, why are you three by yourself? Who are you and where are your guardians?”

He doesn’t like interrogating or harming children, but it's common knowledge that they’re usually the best distraction and hesitation cards Clans uses against their enemy. (The Senji doesn’t send children out to fight their battles, not since his older brother became Clan Head.) The kids’ unusual clothes are suspicious looking enough right after the miniature Uchiha.

And: _Oh._ Now that he can get a study of their chakra up close, he knows those chakra signatures. The blonde has Uzumaki chakra—a lot of it ( _A blonde Uzumaki?_ —Impossible; he’s never heard of one); and he was right about the other boy being an Uchiha. 

_Why the hell are an Uzumaki and Uchiha together? The Uzumaki Clan is in an alliance with the Senju who are at war with the Uchiha still. And furthermore, there’s something not right with the blonde’s chakra, there’s something much deeper underneath all that bright bubbly chakra that reminds him of his brother which frightens him. _Him._ He’s definitely not letting these kids go._

__

__

The atmosphere turns even gloomier than before. _What the?_ And, to his growing frustration and bewilderment, the Uzumaki’s chakra trembles,— _How the hell does chakra tremble? Flickering is one thing, but trembling?_ —and begins crying, followed by the pinkette whose chakra is a flood of sadness. 

The Uchiha’s chakra on the other hand grows cold and harsh like the veteran shinobi from his clan—nothing like a child his age should be able to do. But, eh, Uchihas must be an exception; except the kid is biting his lip hard enough to draw blood. 

“They’re—“the little girl hiccups, tears streaming down her plump cheeks and staining her black clothes. “They’re all _dead_. _Everybody is dead_.”

The Uzumaki cries harder at the statement. 

“Our entire village is _gone_ ,” Sakura says between sobs. “Kaka-sensei and—“

As if that name of some teacher they know was a spell, all three of them began crying. 

Tobirama could only stand there awkwardly, stumped, unsure how to proceed. He’d never interrogated kids since he’s never met them on the battlefield. He’s heard stories of their stubbornness to surrender less they shame their Clan. He rarely interacted with any of the children in his clan because he just didn’t know how to with kids.

He forced himself not to shove the Uzumaki away when the kid sat up and latched onto his leg, or when the girl took his other while crying, her head barely up to his hips. The Uchiha thankfully didn’t cling to him, but did move to sit beside the blonde, tears streaming down his cheeks as he continued to bite his lip. 

Tobirama pats the heads of the children hanging off him to calm them down.

To his embarrassment, that’s how his cousins find him. 

Miruko froze, the man probably too shocked to do anything else. 

Touka on the other hand, his closest cousin to him and his brother, furrows her eyebrows, eyes calculating to try to figure out what happened. 

“They were just close to the event,” Tobirama states, face devoid of emotion so they’d take him seriously. By the slight upward tilt of the corners of Touka’s lip, he fails, or she’s going to be an ass about his predicament. “And when I began questioning them, they began crying.”

Touka full out smiles at him, “You’re scary. Of course, I would have said you scared them, but considering two-thirds of them are clinging onto you, I assume that’s not the problem.”

“They said everybody is dead,” Tobirama replies, ignoring the tiny hands tightening on his pants. It feels like they’re going to rip his pants off him—the girl especially, if nothing is done. 

Touka’s smile falls, and Miruko sends the children a look full of pity. 

Touka moves towards the pinkette, kneeling on one leg to be face-to-face, and rubs the little girl’s back. As much as his cousin is a hard-born-and-raised-warrior, she also has a soft spot for kids. “Shh. Can you tell us what happened?”

Sakura pulls away from him, releasing her strong little hands from his pants to wipe her eyes and stare at his cousin. “Kaka—“she hiccups, “Kaka-sensei—Obito—everyone are gone. Everyone, everyone in the village was killed. Kaka-sensei died while we were running away. We’re lost. Our village was homey and safe and—but—now…! It’s _gone_. They’re _all_ gone and my brothers and I don’t know where to go.”

_Brothers? They’re siblings? They look nothing alike. Their chakra signatures feel nothing alike. They’re orphans, so they have to be adoptive siblings._

“You poor thing,” Touka hugs the pinkette, “nobody from your village is alive then?”

Sakura shakes her head while the Uchiha answers for them, voice hoarse, “They’re dead. We saw our family and friends die in a huge jutsu from far away. Sensei doubted anyone was alive after that.”

Touka stares at the Uchiha, face unreadable, Hiruko is also staring, both most likely seeing the resemblance the kid and Izuna have, or the Uchiha traits.

“Kaka-sensei and Obito were all we had besides each other,” the Uzumaki’s voice draws their attention to him. “But we have no more Kaka-sensei and Obito! It’s only us! And it _hurts_!” His chakra roars with grief that nearly sends him stumbling back. 

He doesn’t miss the way his cousins shiver as their faces twist in confusion and pity, and that surprises him. They aren’t much of sensors, so the Uzumaki must be a natural talent in displaying his emotions through his chakra and sharing it with others.It hardly helps that that the boy's chakra is huge in quantity. 

Either the kids are the world’s best liars, or they’re actually telling the truth, which would be just as wrong and twisted. It would mean these three children had just lost their entire village, the people they know and love. Their ‘Kaka-sensei’ and ‘Obito’ who must have been very close to them are now gone. 

They have nothing but each other. 

That revelation is just as shocking as the thought of an Uchiha and Uzumaki living peacefully in one village. (He’d like to have visited once to ask _why_.) 

Perhaps Doomsday was the result of their home being destroyed. But, they didn’t seem to know about it. Though, they were much closer to the source of Doomsday, so what they saw there, might be different than what they saw from afar.

He’s going to have a long talk with his brother and sister-in-law once he gets home. And home. He doesn’t even want to imagine if it was just him and his brother and they’d lost everything to the bloody war racking the land. (It’s for reasons like this that sometimes has his mind wondering back to Hashirama’s childhood dream to bring an end to the feud corrupting their land and people.)

“We were planning on looking for the people responsible,” the Uchiha’s voice turns cold, a far cry from his heartbroken tone earlier, “and we’re going to destroy them.” Unsurprisingly his eyes bleed into the familiar matured Sharigan; it does surprise them when it morphs into an unfamiliar-shaped Sharingan.

 _Mangekyo Sharigan._ Tobirama's stomach sinks as his cousins inhale sharply. He’s heard rumors of it. Seen it swirl into being for the first time when Madara saw his father die right before his eyes. He knows the boy before him is an Uchiha, but those eyes cement his beliefs. 

The darkness simmering in those blood-red eyes sends waves of dread through him despite its owner being a child—a child who could grow into another Izuna, or worse, _Madara_.

“Well pay them back for what they did,” and its sweet innocent looking Sakura who says this. Her face grimly set and eyes determined. Her face is adorable with that angry expression she’s wearing, but her voice full of venom. shatters that illusion.

And then, if that wasn’t disturbing enough with the two other kids, a heavy chakra settles in the air, pushing down on Tabirama's shoulders and feeling as if the weight of the world will drag him to his knees and into the pit of hell. The pure unconcealed hatred—such _loathing_ —and thirst for chaos cuts deeply into him. 

Naruto—bright, bubbly chakra Naruto— _he’d spoken too soon_ —pulls away from him. The way the blonde’s chakra feels now no longer resembles an Uzumaki’s, nor does it tremble, but is more like the negative emotions he felt on Doomsday. 

Something dark in the boy stirs, and then _roars_. 

Tobirama instinctively jumps back from the blonde, his cousins still frozen in place and staring in fear at the blonde whose radiating danger. 

Naruto meets Sasuke’s Sharigan, and mirrors the glare that promises retribution. “We’ll avenge Kaka-sensei and everyone no matter what.” It’s a statement, a promise, and vow wrapped all together.

And then suddenly it’s gone, Naruto’s lips wobbling and the tears coming back with a vengeance. “So nobody has to go through what we did.” 

Sakura’s face softens and she runs to hug Naruto and bring him down to hug Sasuke. 

Tobirama watches them like a hawk, guard up to its fullest, but lets them have their moment to calm down. 

Once they’ve had their group hug, the pinkette turns to him and his cousins after wiping her eyes. “Sorry. It’s just everything happened a few days ago and…and we’ve been running ever since and hadn’t had time to…”

“No,” Touka recovers first, “You must be hurting after losing your precious people and home all of a sudden. But, you must remember that you’re six, still grieving, and are unlikely to survive by yourself very long.”

“We’ll be just fine,” the blonde wipes his face onto the sleeve of his arm. “We know how to take care of ourselves.”

Tobirama can’t help the snort he releases. He ignores the glare his female cousin sends him and settles an unimpressed look onto the Uzumaki who blinks up at him in confusion, reminding him so much of his older over-expressive brother. “You offered me those black wild berries, which is poisonous enough to kill a full grown man.”

The Uzumaki shrugs, and before anyone can stop him, picks up a handful of berries and eats it. “I was hungry, and they taste sweet,” he says. The gulp that follows sends the grownups into a frenzy. 

“You idiot,” Touka hisses, and marches up to the idiotic blonde and begins slapping his back, “Spit it out! It’ll kill you!”

“Wah! But it tastes good!” The Uzumaki wails, jumping from her grasp to hide behind the Uchiha. “That hurt, ya know!”

“Naruto normally eats a lot of them too,” Sakura unhelpfully supplies, the sadness in her chakra slowly dissipating. “He’s immune to most poison.”

Tobirama hopes he’s not reading too much into the implications of her words.

His cousin and the blonde’s antics thankfully breaks the tension that was still there after whatever the emotional fiasco was. He’s now wary of the blonde, however.

“That’s…” Touka shakes her head as her shoulders slump in defeat. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

Naruto—the Uzumaki—steps from behind the Uchiha and grins. His eyes and cheeks are still red from his earlier crying fit, but his smile is genuine when he says, “I’m Otsutsuki Naruto!”

_Not Uzumaki then._

Sakura stands beside him with a small smile of her own despite the puffiness of her eyes. “I’m Otsutsuki Sakura.”

The Uchiha stands up on Naruto’s empty side, his eyes no longer red, “I’m Otsutsuki Sasuke from the Otsutsuki Clan. I’m the oldest of us three siblings, followed by Sakura, and then Naruto who is the youngest. ” His eyes stare distrustfully at them and he steps forward as if to protect the other two. “Now that you know our names, who are you.”

Since he’s the highest ranking individual in the group, Tobirama steps forward to stand by Touka. “I’m Senji Tobirama and these are my cousins Touka and Miruko from the same clan.” 

He hadn’t expected them all to have the same name. He’d never heard of an Otsutsuki Clan. The thought of a clan stealing clan children spells trouble for the rest of the clans everywhere. It happens occasionally, but he’d never heard anybody succeeding in snatching an Uchiha babe, and there’s yet to be a Senju child kidnapped (alive).

“Senju? You mean the one from the legend?” Sakura says in confusion. 

“You mean that legend?” Naruto looks at her strangely. “You can’t be serious right?”

“It’s just a legend, Dobe,” but Sasuke also sends Sakura a confused, questioning look. “Why would you bring that up? They don’t need to know.”

Tobirama would like to hear whatever legend there is about his clan.

“But our home is gone,” she answers bitterly, “almost everything dying with it. Is it wrong that I want our history and belief to live on?”

The boys don’t reply to that and only stare wide-eye at the pinkette.

“Of course not!” Naruto shouts. 

Sasuke looks back to the adults. “So we’re going to just trust them because they’re Senju like the one in the legend we heard growing up? They could be lying.”

“That’s…” Sakura bites her lips, hesitation beginning to set in her expression.

“We only want to help,” Touka doesn’t miss a beat to reply with a reassuring smile.

“Why? You don’t even know us,” Sasuke frowns at her, unconvinced. 

Tobirama thinks the not-Uchiha-but-has-the-Sharigan has a very valid question considering the boy has the Sharigan, looks and feels Uchiha—the Senju’s archenemy.

“You’re kids,” Hiruko states as if that’s reason enough. “We can’t just leave you, especially if you’re all alone.”

The kids all flinch at that, the gloomy aura around them beginning to form again.

“Look,” Tobirama catches their attention because he’s _not_ going to have a repeat of their earlier breakdown again, “You’re three defenseless children running around blindly, and may one day accidentally stumble into the middle of a battlefield and die. It’d be wrong of us to leave you children to such a fate.” 

“We’re not defenseless,” Sasuke mutters. 

Sakura nudges him in the side. “Be nice. You know what they mean.”

“Huh? What? I don’t understand.” Naruto looks between the other kids and the grownups. “What do they mean?”

Sasuke and Sakura sigh as one. 

Then, slowly, as if speaking to a child ( _they’re all children_ ), Sakura translates for him. “They want to take us to their village.”

“Their village? You mean they _want_ us?” Naruto turns to Tobirama. “You want us?” He asks incredulously, as if that wasn’t what they were insinuating from the beginning. 

Tobirama holds back a sigh and trades it with a nod. 

Naruto’s chakra flickers in what must be surprise, before it warms, brightening in a way that feels like he’s looking at the sun to match with the grin on his face. He’s never met someone so expressive aside from his brother. 

Touka smiles softly, “Do you have anything you need help carrying?” 

“Nope,” Naruto bounces on the balls of his feet to hold out his arms, rolling up one sleeve to show black seals etched on his skin. “We have seals holding all of our belongings and things we’ll need.”

Tobirama stares at the seals, eyes narrowing at the unfamiliarity of it. It’s one of the best penmanship he’s seen and on human skin too. Only Uzumakis are that proficient in seals. “I see.”

“So which one of you will I be carrying?” Touka questions. 

Naruto’s eyes narrow at her and he asks in a serious voice, “Which of the three of you are the fastest?”

“Me,” Tobirama answers automatically. “Why?” He feels stupid for asking that once he thinks about it. 

The blonde grins. “Let’s race!”

“You don’t even know where the finish line is.” Hiruko raises an amused eyebrow. “And there’s no way you could keep up with Tobirama.”

Tobirama eyes flicker to Sasuke when he snorts and to Sakura who hides a grin behind her hand.

“The Dobe was the fastest person in our village,” Sasuke meets Tobirama’s eyes. “Unless you’re like our Fourth and Second leader of the village and have a space-time teleporting jutsu, you stand no chance.” 

Tobirama’s brain screeches to a halt. He’d been making a jutsu like that in secret for a while now. No one should know of that, unless....it’s already been invented. He eyes the three children in a new light. _Was their village more advanced than other towns and clans? It could be another reason for it being destroyed._

“A space-time teleporting jutsu? There’s no such thing.” Hiruko chuckles in amusement. “And even without that make-believe technique, Tobirama is fast. He’s the fastest in our clan.”

Naruto puffs up his chest as he slaps his hand on the seal that momentarily smokes and in his hand appear two kunais with seals written on the handles.

Sakura and Sasuke send him unimpressed looks. 

The blonde ignores them and flings one kunai at Hiruko and drops the other in his spot. 

Hiruko expectantly dodges, turning to glare at the kid only to see a flash of yellow. 

Tobirama inhales sharply when he sees the blonde appear right behind his cousin and falls onto the older man’s back. 

Hiruko yelps, eyes swerving backwards to stare in surprise and fear at the child who has his arms wrapped around his neck and is grinning mischievously, kunai held carelessly in one hand. 

“Stop trying to show off idiot,” Sakura has her face in her hand. “I know I said we shouldn’t let our history and belief die, but remember. If power-hungry shinobi hear of our skills, they’ll come after us for it. Don’t forget what we’ve learned, that what we know can be used to harm others.”

In a flash of yellow and black, Naruto appears at the kunai where he was standing at and plunks it off the ground with a pout. “Sorry. I’ll be careful.”

Power-hungry shinobi _would_ kill to have that teleporting jutsu. Tobirama wants it, wants to pick it apart, figure out how it works, and use it in his battles…which is a bad way to lose any trust from the children in front of him. 

“That’s pretty cool.” Touka compliments. “I’d thought only your Fourth and Second leader could do it.”

“Naruto is special,” Sakura speaks as if unsure that’s how she could simply explain her brother, “He’d taught himself Fuuinjutsu from old learning scrolls and learned the basics and theories.”

“Taught himself?” Tobirama hates the way he makes a strangled sound in the back of his throat. _Impossible! So he learned how to reinvent that jutsu by himself? At such a young age too?_

“Yup. But, I won’t use it,” Naruto puts it back into his seal and fixes his sleeve. “So want to race?”

Tobirama does not want to race any kid. But, these three children have proven to him that they’re different than other kids their age. For one, they’re far too mature, intelligent, and from a mysterious clan. “You don’t know where our clan is.”

“Which one is it?” Naruto asks. “I sense a lot of people together in different directions. Which one is yours?”

That information unsettles him. _Is Naruto a sensor too? He does have Uzumaki chakra, and they are many Uzumaki who are natural born sensors._

“How far can you sense?” Tobirama fishes for more information on the little boy’s skills. Part of the reason is because he’s curious, another is because he’s still wary of the blonde. 

“Uh…far enough that I feel four settlements there and another three past it,” he points to the west, and then turns to the east, “and another over there and five more past it, all in one giant circle. And I feel more in the other two directions I hadn’t pointed at.”

 _That sensory range is almost as good as my own._ Tobirama mentally grimaces, but smirks at the blonde. “Not bad.” _Not good either._ “Can you feel a large amount of chakra in one place over there in the east? Reminds you of trees and thriving plants? That way. We’ll only race for one day since it’ll take four days to get there and we’ll need to wait for the rest.”

Naruto cocks his head to the side. “Ooh. Okay. So then one of the chakra monsters I sense is from the Senju.” His eyes flicker to the west. “I feel another over that way. I wonder who that belongs to.”

Tobirama knows he’s referring to Madara, but the kid doesn’t need to know about that clan yet. He’s going to have to figure out what to do with Sasuke since that boy clearly is a descendant of the Uchiha Clan. 

“I’d like to be carried,” Sakura walks up to Touka and blushes shyly. “I’m tired.” His cousin picks the girl up onto her back and grins. 

Hiruko finally shakes off his stupor to glance warily at the Uchiha who stands next to Touka. 

“I’m running.” Sasuke deadpans. 

“I guess that’s it. Ready you two?” Touka asks Naruto and him who nod before sharing a look. “Ready. Set. Go!”

Tobirama runs, easily picking up Naruto’s chakra signature that’s right beside him. 

“Don’t go easy on me old man, I’m not this slow.” Naruto grins cheekily at him. 

“I’m not old,” is all he says in reply to that before he runs through trees faster, barely touching the branches. 

At the speed they’re going, they’ll be far ahead of the group. 

Tobirama hides back an amused smile when he feels Naruto keeping up behind him. He’s just warming up, and from the looks of it so is the blonde. 

After five minutes, he makes a break for it with the blonde in tow. They keep up like that for the entire day, and soon enough, once the sky is beginning to set up ahead, they both land on the other side of a small river at the same time. 

“You kept up,” Tobirama pushes away the thoughts of a child keeping up in speed with him when most, older shinobi find him too fast, “And didn’t use your full speed.” He can tell the cheeky brat can go faster, the blonde only working up a little sweat like him. 

“Well you didn’t either,” Naruto frowns up at him. “And we’re already far ahead of the others. I don’t want to go exploring without my sister and brother.”

He’s still trying to wrap his mind around the thought of an Uchiha and an Uzumaki being siblings. “You’re not biologically siblings.” He’s going to fish information out of this one since the kid seems more than willing to share secrets than the other two, and also seems more gullible. 

“So? In the end we’re all from the same Clan.” Naruto answers unhelpfully. 

“What do you mean by that?” Tobirama is very curious about this Otsutsuki Clan.

“The legend we were told was about our clan, the Otsutsuki Clan. Have you heard of the Sage of Six Paths?” Naruto turns to him and he sends the blonde a curious nod. “He was a descendant from that clan. We’re his descendants. His mother was said to be a Goddess who fell from the sky to protect the sacred World Tree or Chakra Tree and its fruit, and had two children with a human. One of her children became known as the Sage of Six Paths, the other was lost in history because it was said him and his line moved to the moon.”

 _The moon?_ Tobirama must have been making a disbelieving expression since the blonde chuckles strangely and says, “Yeah. The moon.” 

They both settle onto the ground and he continues watching the blonde, resigning himself to hear of this peculiar legend he’s never heard about, or at least not like this.

Naruto continues with his story, eyes turning up to the half-moon up ahead. “The Goddess had eyes that could see far and through many things, skin and hair a pale beautiful white that matched the name of her title, the Rabbit Princess. One day she had eaten the forbidden fruit to gain the power to defeat the enemies after her, and with it another eye poweress came to being on her forehead, the Sharigan, and it also bloomed on top of the Sacred Tree and sent its roots to wrap around the humans in the country and put them under an enternal genjutsu that sucked the life force out of them and replenished her strength.”

“Eternal genjutsu? I’ve never heard anything like you’re telling me,” Tobirama frowns. 

“I’m not done yet,” Naruto sends him a reproachful look, “wait until I’m done before speaking. _Anyways_ , the boy huffs. "She was also with child when she ate the forbidden fruit. Her kids were the first of humans to be born with chakra and alien traits. The Sage of Sixth Paths was born with eyes as black as night, his brother born with his mother’s all-seeing eyes, the color white. As they grew up they began noticing people disappearing to the Scared Tree they were told not to go near, except they did when one of their friends left for it and never came back. They found out what the Rabbit Princess was doing and had been too late for their friend who’d had their life force sucked out of them. The Sage of Sixth Paths felt so much sadness, hurt, and disappointment in himself and his mother that his feelings bled into his eyes, the color red and three tomoes of the Sharigan being formed on the first person born with it which later morphed into what we call the Rinnegan. They knew their mother was wrong for what she was doing, and had begun training so they can grow strong enough to stop her together. They loved her, knew she loved them back, but they were losing the mother they knew who was becoming obsessed with the Sacred Tree. So the brothers trained until the day their battle with their mother came.”

Tobirama listens with rapt attention, his mind picking apart this disbelieving story and figuring out what could be real and what isn’t. He’s never heard of this story, this legend, or whatever it is. It’s different, interesting, and if any of it are true, than he has _a lot_ to talk to his brother. Though, he finds all of it hard to believe.

“Their mother saw them coming, and angered by their intention to seal her away, had awakened the Sacred Tree, letting it form into the mythical Juubi. For many nights and days the brothers fought their mother and Bijuu. The brothers won, but at a steep price. The Sage of Six Paths sealed the Juubi into him, and long after their battle, had separated the creature in portions, turning them into animals of children folklore and given them each a name; the nine Bijuu, we call them today. The Husk of the Juubi was taken to be guarded by the younger brother up in the newly formed moon that seals the Mother of Chakra, the Rabbit Princess. And then to remind future generations and to warn them of their mother who could one day get free if the seal was undone, the Sage of Six Paths had written it down in stone and passed it on to his eldest child to protect. As for the nine Bijuu, the Ichibi, Niibi, Sanbi, Yonbi, Gobi, Rokubi, Nanabi, Hachibi, and Kyuubi, they were raised up by the Sage of Six Paths to coexist with humans. It worked during his time, but later down the line, history was forgotten, and humans fear what they don’t know and remember, and the Bijuu are chakra beings who are made entirely up of natural chakra, thrive off the life force surrounding them, and the best sensors for emotions. Imagine being a Bijuu and able to sense the fear humans had of you? Of how they turned on you and hunted you down like an animal and has tried to wipe out your existence, wield it, curse it, and hurt you with it?” 

Naruto wipes the tears forming in his eyes, and laughs softly. “It’s just a legend, a story from a long time ago. But, the Bijuu are real. They’re chakra monsters, but they have feelings too. But that’s too far ahead in the story. I should probably tell you about the Sage of Six Paths’ children, the two brothers who were given a choice at his death bed to find out who’d be the next leader of their people; the one with one brother who chooses power, while the other chooses love.”

Tobirama has heard of that legend. 

The blonde goes on to tell him the story of the Sage of Six Paths having two sons, teaching them something called Ninshu and sharing it with the rest of the humans in their settlement to help with the crops and bonds. How the oldest son was a genius who trained by his self, and the younger who was very loved by their people had their help in becoming stronger. They grew up together until the day for the successor of their Otsutsuki Clan on earth was to be named. 

Naruto told him of the similar trials both brothers were given from their father, the result of their decisions to complete it, and the fallout that followed the younger brother’s succession as Clan Head.

How the older brother felt betrayed, hurt, and angry and awakened his own Sharigan. He wanted revenge. Indra.

The younger brother was forced to fight his brother even if he didn’t want to, had needed the help of the rest of his precious people to fight his brother who was too strong for him to defeat by himself. He’d also ask one of the Bijuu, another brother, for its help which accepted. Asura.

Thus was the very first fight between the two of many more to come in the future. They loved each other, but both had stuck to their beliefs and didn’t come to a compromise, that their Wills were so strong their souls would be reincarnated into their descendants so they can continue their never ending battle. 

That the older brother abandoned his clan name, and made a new one, the Uchiha; and the younger brother married into his peoples’ family and had left his name too; the Otsutsuki Clan on earth ending with them.

With the birth of their never unending battle, came the beginning of the Warring Clan Era of shinobi using Ninjutsu created by the warring brothers. 

“Except the clan didn’t end with them,” Naruto says in a quiet voice, “some descendants of the Sage of Sixth Paths’ brother came down from the moon to live on earth, and the descendants of the Sage of Sixth Paths who didn’t want to fight family followed them to build a hidden village, far from the budding feud to live peacefully while prospering and took up the Otsutsuki Clan name, the revival of our clan.” 

The blonde smiles slightly, eyes still sad, and his chakra trembling like he’s going to cry again, but his face remains free of tears, looking as if he just thought of something good, but humorless. “We were told all the clans now in this day and age are descendants of our clan, the Otsutsuki. The Uchiha for their Sharigan, Senju for their affinity with the earth and water—the plants, the Hyuuga’s for their all-seeing white eyes—the Byagukan inherited from the Mother of Chakra herself, the Kaguya and their pale skin and ability to wield their bones however they want, the Yamaka for their mind reading jutsu inherited from the Sage of Sixth Paths’ Rinnegan, the Uzumaki who have special chakra and large of amounts of it since it’s a variation from the Bijuu and enables them to feel emotions and sense chakra, and many more other clans.”

 _Holy. Shit._ Tobirama feels sick. If— _and he’s going on a big what if_ —the legend is true. Than that would means he’s fighting his family to protect his family. He still hates the Uchiha, but if all the fighting could have been prevented, than he wouldn’t have to hate them. 

“Also, there’s another part to the legend,” Naruto speaks again. “That there was a third child of the Rabbit Goddess, one that wasn’t born human and had become the embodiment of her Will, a dark shadow with eyes that glow like the full moon. That it was the reason for stirring up problems between the two brothers and causing their fallout by instigating the older brother to awaken the power of his eyes and use him to unseal the Mother of Chakra, but Indra knew better. So it was said the dark creature waited until Indra’s passing, waited until he was reincarnated, and had rewrote the Sage of Six Paths’ warning about their mother written on the stone slab for his arrival. Except all of Indra’s reincarnations either died too early by his brother’s own, or failed to awaken the Eternal Sharigan or Rinnegan even in old age. So the black entity we called Black Zetsu, is said to continue pulling strings in the background to cause Indra’s descendants to spiral into madness, revenge to the descendants of his brothers who locked up their mother, and free her.”

“How do you know which of the brothers’ reincarnations are born?” Tobirama finds himself asking. He doesn’t think that something non-human could be the reason for all the fighting. Hell, majority of the legend sounds make-believe. 

“You feel the souls of the brothers clinging to their reincarnations. Or it’s just two guys related to the Uchiha and Senji Clan who were once close and care about each other, but are still fighting; Asura trying to stop Indra and hoping to talk him into some kind of peace or compromise. They’re both known to be unmatched in their generation, and the only ones who can put up a fight for the other,” Naruto shrugs carelessly, as if the boy hadn’t just indirectly spoken about Hashirama and Madara’s unique situation. 

Once Tobirama gets back to the Clans Compound, he’s going to search everything in his clan’s library about their history. 

“Oh, and that those who fell prey to the Sacred Chakra tree and had their life force drained out enough, they’d turned into white plant soldiers that have the ability to suck chakra from humans and be able to take on that person’s chakra signature and appearance. We call them White Zetsus.” 

“Your village’s legend is frightening,” Tobirama deadpans to the blonde. 

“Or it’s the truth,” Naruto meets his eyes with an unwavering gaze. “I believe every bit of this legend. And I believe it was Black Zetsu that pulled the strings behind the destruction of everything but my siblings that I hold dear.” 

Tobirama holds back the remark to tell the child it’s just a legend, but decides against it. The children want revenge for their village’s downfall, and perhaps chasing after something that isn’t real won’t pit them against the possible people responsible for destroying their home and able to kill them. 

Naruto then pulls a leaf and unfolds it to show a handful of the poisonous black berries. He picks up one and turns to him, “Want one?” At the blank look he receives, the blonde’s eyes widen in realization before smiling sheepishly. “Sorry. I forgot.” And then he eats it. 

Tobirama contemplates if he should stop the boy or see what’ll happen to the kid in a few minutes after eating the poisonous berries. He frowns when the blonde keeps staring at him. He snaps, “What?”

Naruto lips thin with eyes that seem to see into his soul. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been separated from my siblings, and there’s suddenly a bunch of chakra signatures I don’t recognize. The moon is beginning to hang above us.” His finger twitches. “I want to go back to them.” The boy’s chakra begins to stir inside him, the faint wisps of relentless emitting from it. 

_They’re codependent on each other._ Tobirama suddenly realizes. He was told they were siblings, but hadn’t thought much of it since they weren’t blood related, but he’d been wrong. Again. The kids were raised together as siblings, had lost everything in one day together, and only have each other. Of course Naruto would feel uncomfortable and scared to be away from his older siblings.

As soon as Tobirama stands to head back for the others, Naruto jumps up and grabs his pants (the kid’s head is barely up to his hips). Next thing he knows the world is spinning and he feels like he’s going to hurl. Once the world comes to a halt he keels over to throw up the rising bile in his throat.

“What the fuck.” He hears Hiruko hiss. “How—What—You!”

“Naruto!” Sakura’s relieved voice echoes in the night. “We were wondering when you’d be coming back.” 

Tobirama turns to glare at the blonde being hugged by the pinkette, both of whom are holding hands with the Uchiha. 

“I don’t think I could sleep without you guys around,” Naruto says into the hug.

“No one told you to race,” Sasuke states, his shoulders sagging in what must be relief.

"I guess now that they're back, we can all get some rest? I'll take first watch." Touka jumps onto a branch of a nearby tree.

Nobody argues, the three children huddling into a small pile, Sasuke and Sakura on either side of Naruto. Hiruka rests on the right of the kids, Tobirama taking the left.

The moon's light shines down onto them, sending goosebumps through Tobirama's body as he recalls the unbelievable legend. 

*******

Their arrival to the Senju Compound was nerve wrecking. 

Naruto felt the chakra signatures spark in what could be curiosity and wariness, how they moved together and stood waiting. 

So he wasn’t all that surprised when two people greeted him. He’d recognized that plant chakra full of life, easily figuring out it was the Shoidaime Hokage. The other signature not so much. What did surprise him was the red hair and diamond shape on the ladies forehead like Sakura’s. 

_Red hair like mom._ Naruto’s eyes the red strands, his blood freezing in his veins. _Red hair._

Sasuke takes his hand in his and squeezes it reassuringly. 

It’s enough to snap him out of his trance, taking note of the red head’s eyes staring back at him. He also notices the looks people are sending Sasuke. 

“Let’s head to the house and I’ll explain,” the Niidaime says before anyone else can commit on their presence. 

Niidaime— _Tobirama_ —he tries to remind himself leads the way to a simple house big enough for a family of four made entirely out of wood. 

He listens to the Tobirama explain his encounter with them and the legend he was told while doing his best to ignore the looks both the Shodaime— _Hashirama_ —and his wife keep glancing between all of them after introductions were exchanged. 

Sasuke, Sakura, and he are seated on a couch together. Hiruko, Touka, Hashirama and Mito sit on chairs while Tobirama stands between the group of children and the adults. 

“I’m sorry to hear about your loss,” Mito’s chakra dulls slightly, not enough Sakura and Sasuke can notice, but enough for Naruto. 

Still, their heads droop, eyes downcast at the reminder. It probably wouldn’t have bothered him so much for using that kind of cover story, only it’s the truth, and the pitying looks are beginning to make so much more sense on why Sasuke used to get irritated with the villagers after the fiasco with his clan. 

He’s always been too emotional for a shinobi, but he’s beginning to question if there were some side effects of de-aging because his emotions are a lot harder to control since he woke up as a kid. And Sasuke may have opened up to them after the reformation of Team Seven, but to display his emotions in front of anyone besides their makeshift family is a clear sign that he’s not the only one with the emotional problem.

“I’ve never heard of the Otsutsuki Clan,” Hashirama states with a large grin, his chakra lively and warm rubbing against his own. “This brings me hope that one day the wars between clans will end and we can live in peace! I’d like to hear more about your hidden village!”

“Hashirama,” Mito sighs, but a smile graces her features. Her eyes slide to the blonde, “Naruto right?” At the nod he sends her, she opens her mouth to speak but seems to think better of it and says, “I can’t help but notice your peculiar chakra signature. It’s similar to my clan’s own, the Uzumaki. And something else.”

Naruto’s mouth feels dry as he forces out his words, “My mom…she was the last of her special bloodline besides me to die out in the Otsutsuki Clan. She had red hair.” 

Touka and Miruko stare at him as sudden realization hits them of what he’s insinuating. 

Hashirama for his part stares back and forth between the two. Then he stops on the blonde. “What? So the familiar chakra in you is because you’re an Uzumaki? With blonde hair?”

“I hope you’d meet the elders of my clan,” Mito smiles serenely, a tint of mischief dancing in her red eyes, “We’ve only ever had red or the rare silver and brown heads, but no blonde.”

“I’d like to meet the Uzumakis!” Naruto’s eyes light up, excitement bubbling up in him. “Seals are fun!”

Sasuke clicks his tongue, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. “Please tell me the whole clan isn’t made up of more Narutos. One Dobe is enough.”

Naruto scowls, jumping to his feet to point angrily at the bastard. “What was that Teme?! You make it seem as if it’ll be a nightmare!”

Sakura places a gentle hand on the blonde’s shoulder, and says with upmost sincerity, “I have to agree with Sasuke on this one Naruto. One of you is enough.”

Naruto’s face falls and he slumps into a depressive state muttering about betrayal while Sasuke smirks triumphantly. 

“If it makes you feel better, I also hope there’s no other Sasuke from the legendary Uchiha Clan,” Sakura smiles brightly at the two glowers sent her way. “What? I’m the one who has to put up with both your idiotic tendencies.” 

Hashirama breaks out into a fit of laughter, startling all of the kids. 

“Is it just me or does Naruto remind me of Hashirama-sama?” Hiruko whispers to Touka. 

Touka nods in agreement. 

“If you’re willing to abide by my clan’s laws then I’m willing to accept you three into our clan. Unfortunately, since we are in the middle of a war, you’ll be closely watched until given permission otherwise to be left alone. How does that sound?” Hashirama grins at all of them, welcoming and too open to be shared with complete strangers like them.

Sakura glances at him and Sasuke, while the Uchiha stares impassively at the Senju Clan Head. 

Naruto bites his lips, eyes downcast. “Will you get in the way of our revenge?”

A heavy tension immediately settles over the group. 

He looks up to stare at the blank face Hashirama is wearing. “Black Zetsu is our target. Will you stop us from getting our revenge?” He repeats again.

“The Black Zetsu from your Clan’s legend? How do you even know he’s real?” Hashirama asks instead. 

Naruto nods, lips thinning. “He’s real.” He doesn’t elaborate any further. 

“Hm. How about we help you? Whether or not it is Black Zetsu behind your village’s destruction, we cannot have enemy out there with the power to destroy an entire civilization hiding in the shadows.”

The seriousness radiating from Hashirama brings a small smile to the blonde’s face. It feels like he’s in the presence of the man who would one day become the Shodaime of their village. 

Naruto full out grins, dark and sinister, knows his siblings have similar ones since all the adults in the room tenses. “Sounds like a plan. Right Sakura, Sasuke?” Even if the Senju don’t keep their end of the deal, they can always leave and search on their own. 

“As long as it’s only us who knows about him. Wouldn't want the slick bastard to hear there were survivors after him,” the pinkette states darkly. 

Saskue nods. “Hn. I’m not leaving my little siblings by themselves in unknown territory.” 

Naruto and Sakura grin at him. Sasuke really is taking his role as the older sibling seriously. Well, they do consider each other siblings, so it doesn’t really matter. Sakura has always been the brain between them, Naruto their instincts and senses, and Sasuke both their mind and armor. They covered each other’s weaknesses, strengthening one another’s strength. 

“But, before we accept, what are the conditions for us staying here?” Sasuke adds. 

Hashirama nods in acknowledgement at Sasuke’s question. “You are not permitted to stray from the guard assigned to you. It’ll be either of the individuals in this room if it makes you feel more at ease. You’ll also be given tasks to do so you wouldn’t be bored and once you’ve finished, free time as well, to do whatever you like. If it’s training, there’s a specific area designated for it at the edge of the compound. This building will be where you’ll be living, which is my home I share with my wife and brother. The rules for the house, you can get from my wife Mito. Any additional conditions can be dealt with later or when it comes up. Deal?”

Sasuke doesn’t seem too enthusiastic as his siblings when he says, “…Fine, only if my siblings are okay with it.”

“Can we all share one room?” Naruto suddenly asks, sounding as if that’s the most important piece of the deal. 

Mito eyes narrow, and is about to speak when Tobirama replies, “Of course not. She’s a girl and you’re both boys.”

Naruto and Sasuke both look at him like he’s their enemy. 

“Indeed. It’s not proper. Besides, your rooms will be right next to each other so you don’t have to worry.” Mito adds, but it does nothing to assuage their growing anxiety or anger. 

“Then no deal.” Sasuke states sharply.

Sakura has gone pale since Tobirama spoken up and has been chewing on her lip anxiously. “Wait…Sasuke, Naruto. I don’t mind if I sleep by myself.”

Both boys stare incredulously at her. 

“We don’t have anywhere else to go,” Sakura meets their eyes, stubbornness in her voice, “We can’t let a chance like this get away.”

Naruto stares at her in resignation. 

Sasuke turns to glare at the adults in the room, madness and hatred bleeding his eyes into the fully matured Sharigan. “My siblings are the only family I have left. I only have one brother and sister left,” his words wrap threatening around the throats of the adults, “Whether or not you are the legendary Senju Clan, I will not forgive you should any harm come to my siblings because of you and your people.”

“I assure you, my people and I will not harm them,” Hashirama says solemnly. “I know the feeling of wanting to protect the only siblings you have left.” 

Tobirama shoots his brother an undecipherable glance.

“The same with me!” Sakura steps forward to hug Sasuke’s arm, seemingly trying to dispel his unhappy mood. “I won’t forgive anyone who tries to hurt my older and younger brother.”

“Yeah!” Naruto crows in agreement, eyes dead serious. 

Sasuke’s glare remains on the Senju Clan Head who doesn’t back down. “They’re okay with it, so I guess it’s a deal.” He doesn’t look too happy though. 

Sakura offers a small smile. 

Naruto pouts, deciding he’s angry at Tobirama and Mito, the only two in the room who are against Sakura sleeping with them. She’s their sister. He doesn’t know what their problem is, but he could care less now. He'll get them later with some of his ingenious pranks.

He suddenly grins, the idea brightening up his mood.

_Oh, revenge is going to be so sweet._


End file.
